IMPROVING THE AIM OF RISK COMMUNICATION MESSAGES:

Targeting Ethnic Audiences

Sharon F. Grigsby, MBA

Executive Director, Bioterrorism Preparedness

County of Los Angeles Public Health

February 24, 2005

Service Planning Areas and Health Districts

Antelope Valley

Foothill

San Fernando

West

East Valley

West Valley

Pomona

Harbor

Whitt ier

Torrance

El Monte

Glendale

Long Beach

Central Alhambra

Bellflower

Inglewood

East LASouth-west

SanAntonio

Compton

North-east

Pasadena

South

Hollywood/Wilshire

South-east

SPA 1

SPA 2

SPA 3

SPA 8

SPA 5

SPA 7

SPA 4

SPA 6

Spas2002.shp

SPA 1 - Antelope Valley

SPA 2 - San Fernando

SPA 3 - San Gabriel

SPA 4 - Metro

SPA 5 - West

SPA 6 - South

SPA 7 - East

SPA 8 - South Bay

Service Planning Areas (SPA)

A Diverse Population Will Have a Multitude of

ConcernsBioterrorism Response PlansMust account for diversity of concerns,

fears and responses of general public requires trust and cooperation of the

general public

Success Requires Trust

Difficult or controversial control and response measures

Isolation/QuarantineTravel restrictionsTargeted or widespread distribution of medications

or vaccinesDistribution of scarce resources

04/18/23 Institute of Medicine: The Future of Public Health (1988)

Bioterrorism Subsamples:Aims and Goals

PreparationWhat people have done

Perceptions of PreparednessConfidence and trust in Public HealthWho should communicate to the public?

Perceptions of RisksExposure and health related problemsWhere would the public go?

04/18/23 Institute of Medicine: The Future of Public Health (1988)

Reliability of various sources of health

information?

85% - CDC is a reliable source of information

84% - your local hospital

81%-83% - local/state health department

80% - your own doctor

The good news

High level of support for funding BT preparedness – political will – creates opportunities to educate and inform.

04/18/23 Institute of Medicine: The Future of Public Health (1988)

Bioterrorism Trust Question

Will the public health system respond fairly to [your] health needs, and without regard to race, ethnicity, income, or other personal characteristics?

Trust Varied by Race/ethnicity

77 73 6863

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

White Asian/PI

Race/Ethnicity

Trust Varied by Neighborhood Safety

7565

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Safe Not Safe

Neighborhood Safety

Trust Varied by Interview Language

74 75

43

01020304050607080

English Spanish Asian

Interview Language

Differences Within GroupsLess Likely to Trust:

African Americans Younger less likely to trust

Asian/Pacific Islanders who spoke Asian language

Persons who reported unsafe neighborhood less likely to trust

Latinos Persons who spoke Spanish language more likely to trust

Digging Deeper

Goal: Better understand African-American attitudes re bioterrorism preparedness & public health

Approach:8 focus groups of African-American adults

stratified by age and SESJune through July, 2004

04/18/23 Institute of Medicine: The Future of Public Health (1988)

Future Directions

Complete analysis of African-American focus groups

Initiate API focus groups

Additional data will be available in 2005 from the 2004 Public Health Response to Emergent Health Threats Survey (PHRETS)

Implications

Perceptions of bias will limit effectiveness in implementing:

Mass vaccinations Mandatory registration and trackingQuarantine and Isolation ComplianceTravel Restrictions

CONCLUSIONS

Public relies upon and places confidence in hospitals and doctors.

CONCLUSIONS

Information should be communicated by highly trusted sources and targeted appropriately to subpopulations.

CONCLUSIONS

Lack of confidence, mistrust and skepticism should be understood by officials communicating or directing the public.

For additional information, call the

Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology

at (213) 240-7785

or

Go to our website:

www.lapublichealth.org/ha/